Clonoe squeeze past local rivals in scrappy affair

Clonoe 0-12  Coalisland 1-8

CLONOE secured a first Championship win over Coalisland since the 1991 County final when they had the minimum to spare in a fiercely contested battle at O’Neill Park on Monday evening.

The rain meant that conditions were slippy but both sides produced passages of good football and of course there was no doubting the will to win from all players in front of a sizeable crowd.

The Rahillys had led by four points at the break and when they moved seven clear despite playing against the wind it looked all over bar the shouting. The Fianna though threw everything at their opponents and an opportunist Cathaoir Quinn goal left it in the melting pot.

Coalisland piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser that would have forced a replay but the Clonoe defence stood tall to just about keep them out to book a quarter final meeting with Errigal Ciaran.

Shane Hughes, Dwayne Quinn and Ciaran O’Neill impressed in the winners defence as did Darragh McGrath in midfield with two vital points.

Up front Daryl Magee pulled the strings from centre half forward with man of the match Connor McAliskey finishing the game with 0-5 to his name and Shea Coney also putting in a big shift. Peter Herron, Plunkett Kane and Sean L Corr all battled hard for the Fianna but their efforts proved to be in vein.

>body2text<McAliskey opened the scoring with a trademark point after only fifteen seconds before a well struck Magee free doubled Clonoe’s advantage.

Magee then took a pass from Shea Coney to extend their advantage before a Tiarnan Quinn free in the sixth minute opened Coalisland’s account. Coalisland lost defender Conall Lyons to injury in the 19th minute and he was replaced by the influential Padraig Hampsey who didn’t start due to a shoulder problem.

Two minutes later McAliskey intercepted the ball and embarked on a surging forty metre run before offloading to Rhys Donnelly but with the goal at his mercy the wing half forward’s shot was brilliant saved by Fintan Coney, McAliskey following up with a point after the danger wasn’t cleared.

Coney then increased their lead before Magee and Ryan Morrow combined for McGrath to slot over a fine score. The Fianna were in trouble but they had the final say of the opening period via a close range Corr free to leaving it 0-6 to 0-2 at halftime.

Fianna captain Herron hit an inspirational score on the restart but despite playing against the elements it was the Rahillys who continued to be the more potent force.

Magee landed a superb point from out on the right wing before their Captain Danny McNulty took a brilliant catch in the middle off the park before running through and finding substitute PJ Lavery who split the posts. Magee placed McAliskey for a point before the latter knocked over a free to leave it 0-10 to 0-3 going into the final quarter.

Corr responded with a free and in the 49th minute Coalisland were thrown a lifeline when Herron and Corr combined for the latter to find Cathaoir Quinn who volleyed to the net from close range. Corr tagged on another free before McGrath got a much needed response for Clonoe at the other end of the field.

With a minute of normal time left to play Coney received a black card and the drama was far from over.

Corr and Tiarnan Quinn converted frees to close the gap to the minimum and with the contest deep in injury time Ciaran O’Neill took an outstanding catch in his defence to ease the pressure as the Rahillys held on.

The Scorers

Clonoe

Connor McAliskey 0-5 (1F), Daryl Magee 0-3 (1F), Darragh McGrath 0-2, Shea Coney 0-1, PJ Lavery 0-1

Coalisland

Sean L Corr 0-4 (3F), Tiarnan Quinn 0-3 (1F), Cathaoir Quinn 1-0, Peter Herron 0-1